Nothing beats fresh vegetables on a hot summer day. From cold salads to cooking herbs, fresh produce can take your meal to a whole new level. But did you know that every time you throw out those lettuce ends you’re missing a great opportunity to grow even more produce? You don’t have to have a garden to regrow some of your own veggies, saving you money and trips to the grocery store. And you can regrow more than you think, all on your very own kitchen counter or windowsill. Check out our tips and tricks below!

How to Regrow Veggies

Regrowing veggies varies by the type, but the idea behind it is simple. With the root end of a vegetable (like the stem of a head of romaine lettuce) or the seed (like an avocado pit), some water, a way to keep the plant off the bottom of the glass if it needs room for the roots to grow (toothpicks work well), and sunlight, the plant should take care of the rest. You’ll want to make sure you’re keeping the water clean by changing it out each day or every few days, and some of these options will eventually need to be planted in soil for them to continue growing. Do your research and choose options that make sense for the time you have. And of course, choose options you think are tasty!

What Can You Regrow?

There are lots of options for regrowing veggies from scraps, and this list isn’t exhaustive by any means. We’ve collected the most common veggies that are being regrown and ordered them from the easiest to most difficult.

Other Tips

Be patient! It might be tempting to check on your plants every day and start harvesting as soon as you see produce, but the plants need time to fully germinate and grow. Disturbing them by checking on them too often, or harvesting before the plants are ready, can negatively affect how much produce you get and the quality of anything that grows.

Try a few at once. Just like in a garden, not every plant will bear fruit, so it might be worth it to set up a couple of avocado pits in a window and see what happens with each. It can also be fun to try a few different plants - maybe grow avocado, onions, and cilantro for a homegrown, homemade guacamole!